C'Mon, It's Only (Our) Money!

As I write this, the U.S. Government is currently in the longest shutdown in history. “Since 1976 . . . the United States Federal Government has had funding gaps on 20 occasions.”

If you have been keeping score, 20 times (I counted 22 times - where a deadline for funding was missed and a “new” shutdown started) since 1976, the folks we keep sending to Washington outspend their agreed upon budgets. Before 1976, the last time the government shut down over funding was in 1933, and before that 1790. So, before Jimmy Carter, the Federal Government shut down twice. SINCE Jimmy Carter, the Federal Government shut down 22 times. You can whine all you want about President Trump and his wall, but the problem you SHOULD be complaining about is that the Federal Government, regardless of the party holding the reins, has driven this wagon right over the financial cliff multiple times. And it seems like their aim for that cliff just keeps on improving. The Federal Government has never met a dollar they didn’t like . . . TO SPEND!! Will somebody please explain to me how “Democratic Socialists” like Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Bernie Sanders can hoodwink a large number of American citizens to think their “Dire Straits” programs (“Money for nuthin’ and your chicks for free”) can ever work?!? With both the Democrats and Republicans bankrupting the country trying to provide “a car in every pot and two chickens in every garage” (or something like that), how are we supposed to “Make America Great Again”?!? Maybe we should force these bozos to do what the rest of us have to do: live within our means. Because sooner or later, the piper needs to be paid. © Emittravel 2019

What's a Reagan Conservative?

I haven't heard it yet, but any day now we'll hear one of the GOP (Grand Old Poopers) touting that they are the Reagan Conservative candidate. Though, when you think about it, that may not be such a Grand Old Proposition.

Before Ronald Reagan was a Republican, he was a card carrying member of the Democrat Party. He made the switch in 1962, a whole four years prior to becoming Governor of California. He said that he didn't leave the Democrat Party, but that the Democrat Party left him.

(Note: I refer to it as the Democrat Party, because that is what it is. Democratic is a type of government. For the same reason we don't call the Republican Party the Republic Party: The United States government is a Republic.)

Reagan said that his political views had not changed. The Democrats had moved farther to the left and now he found that his political views were more in line with the Republicans.

Think about that for a minute. Read that last sentence one more time. What does this mean? It means that the Republicans have THEMSELVES moved farther left as well. Reagan said his political views (which at the time were considered liberal) had not changed. And this, my friends, is the root of the problem.

During the Primaries, the candidates are not talking to the general electorate. They are talking (primarily) to their base. Once the Primaries are over, and the general election cycle starts; the candidates start talking to the general electorate as a whole. That is where a lot of the "flip-flopping" occurs.

Here's the funny thing to me. What happens is that the media convince us that the Republican candidate is "too right wing". Oh, "we need a centrist candidate" they will repeat ad nauseam. So what does the Republican candidate do? He goes about proving how he's not "too right wing".

Think about it. If you are considered "right wing" and you move more towards the center, which direction are you moving? LEFT!! Correct! So now, the Republican Party is more left (a.k.a "liberal") than they were before. And each election cycle this repeats, moving the Republican Party farther and farther left. What was considered "centrist" last year is "right wing" this year. Don't believe me? George W. Bush touted "Compassionate Conservatism". That was another way of saying "Liberal". Remember that he always said he would veto additional spending bills (that bloated the size of the federal government)? It took to half-way through his second term for him to find his veto pen. And then the GOP runs John McCain up the flag pole; a man who spent more years working across the aisle than he did with his own party. And who is (currently) at the top of the heap? Donald Trump. A man who has supported Democrats and their policies for years.

One thing you never hear is that the Democrat Party is "too left wing" and needs to move more towards the center. The media seems pretty mute on that. Yet, in order to make sure the Democrats and Republicans aren't saying the exact same things, the Democrat Party moves farther left themselves.

The results of all this side-step shuffling is that the Republicans are the liberals and the Democrats are the new socialists. (Wow! I guess this means that Bernie Sanders IS the true representation of the Democrat Party after all!)

On second thought, looking at those who have ran for office in the GOP over the last few years, maybe nobody WILL tout themselves as a Reagan Conservative. You know, he was "too right wing".

©Emittravel 2016